Electronic device and icon changing method

ABSTRACT

An image capture device includes a first memory, a second memory and an icon changing unit. The first memory stores a plurality of icons. The second memory stores an icon representing the image capture device of which the second memory is a part. The icon is read by an external electronic device through an address space. The address space is accessed by the external electronic device though a serial bus. The icon changing unit changes the icon stored in the second memory to a selected icon that is selected from the plurality of icons stored in the first memory.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to icons of electronic devices such asdigital video cameras, digital cameras and the like.

2. Related Background Art

A remote control system for remotely controlling a conventional 1394device 800 will be explained with reference to FIG. 8. The 1394 device800 is an apparatus having a digital interface 801 conforming to IEEEStd 1394-1995, and a memory 802 for storing information within aregister space 803 stipulated by ISO/IEC 13213:1994.

The register space 803 is divided into a CSR architecture register 8031,a bus-dependent register 8032, a configuration ROM 8033 and a unit space8034. These areas can be accessed by other 1394 devices so long as theareas are not limited by the 1394 device 800. Further, the informationexisting in each area can be read out by other 1394 devices so long asthe information is not limited by the 1394 device 800.

An icon X, which serves as an icon representing the 1394 device 800, isstored in a predetermined area of the unit space 8034. A controller 820for remotely controlling the 1394 device 800 can read out the icon Xfrom the unit space 8034 and display it as an icon representing the 1394device 800.

However, in the conventional 1394 device 800, the icon X in the unitspace 8034 cannot be changed to another icon. Thus, if the controller820 displays icons of two 1394 devices 800, two icons having the samedesign are displayed, and, thus, a problem will occur in that it is hardfor an observer to see the relationship between the icons and therespective 1394 devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to overcome the above-describeddrawbacks.

Another object of the present invention is to permit the user to changean icon representing an electronic device and held by the device to anicon selected by the user.

According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided an electronic device having an address space which can beaccessed by another electronic device, the electronic device comprisinga first memory, storing icons, a second memory, storing an iconrepresenting the electronic device and being provided from thatelectronic device to the external electronic device via the addressspace, and an icon changing unit which changes the icon stored in thesecond memory to a selected icon that is selected from the plurality oficons stored in the first memory.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention,there is provided an icon changing method for changing an icon in anelectronic device having an address space which can be accessed byanother electronic device, the method comprising the steps of selectingan icon from a plurality of icons stored in a first memory, and changingan icon stored in a second memory to the selected icon, the icon storedin the second memory representing the first electronic device and beingprovided from the first electronic device to the external electronicdevice via the address space.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention,there is provided an electronic device having an address space which canbe addressed by another electronic device, the electronic devicecomprising a memory which stores an icon representing the electronicdevice and being provided from that electronic device to the externalelectronic device via the address space, an icon generating unit whichgenerates a new icon from still image data selected by a user, and anicon changing unit which changes the icon stored in the memory to thenew icon.

According to a still further preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, there is provided an icon changing method for changing anicon in an electric device having an address space which can be accessedby another electronic device, the method comprising the steps ofgenerating a new icon from still image data selected by a user, andchanging an icon stored in a memory to the new icon, the stored icon inthe memory representing the first electronic device and being providedfrom the first electronic device to the external electronic device viathe address space.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention,there is provided an electronic device having an address space which canbe addressed by another electronic device, the electronic devicecomprising a memory which stores an icon representing the electronicdevice and being provided from that electronic device to the externalelectronic device via the address space, an icon generating unit whichgenerates a new icon from still image data captured by the electronicdevice, and an icon changing unit which changes the icon stored in thememory to the new icon.

According to a still further preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, there is provided an icon changing method for changing anicon in an electric device having an address space which can be accessedby another electronic device, the method comprising the steps ofgenerating a new icon from still image data captured by the firstelectronic device, and changing an icon stored in memory to the newicon, the icon stored in the memory representing the first electronicdevice and being provided from the first electronic device to theexternal electronic device via the address space.

The other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome fully apparent from the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a 1394 device according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure of icon changingprocessing A;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure of icon changingprocessing B;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure of icon changingprocessing C;

FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of a remote control system accordingto the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view showing another example of a remote control systemaccording to that embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a further example of a remote control systemaccording to that embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a view showing a conventional remote control system forremotely controlling a 1394 device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be explained in connection with preferredembodiments thereof with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

First of all, a summary of a 1394 device 100 as an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention will be given withreference to FIG. 1. In this embodiment, while for the purpose ofconcreteness the 1394 device will be described as an image photo-takingapparatus such as a digital video camera, a digital camera or the like,the 1394 device may be another kind of device.

A digital interface 101 is a digital interface conforming to IEEE Std1394-1995 and IEEE Std 1394a-2000. The IEEE Std 1394-1995 is a standardregarding a serial bus, while IEEE Std 1394a-2000 is an expansionstandard of the IEEE Std 1394-1995.

A memory 102 is a memory for storing information within a register space103 stipulated in ISO/IEC 13213:1994. The register space 103 is anaddress space assigned to the 1394 device 100 and is divided into a CRSarchitecture register 1031, a bus-independent register 1032, aconfiguration ROM 1033 and a unit space 1034. These areas can beaccessed by other 1394 devices so long as the areas are not limited bythe 1394 device 100. Further, the information existing in each area canbe read out by other 1394 devices so long as the information is notlimited by the 1394 device 100.

An icon X, to serve as an icon representing the 1394 device 100, isstored in a predetermined area of the unit space 1034. A controller forremotely controlling the 1394 device 100 can read out the icon X anddisplay this icon as a representation of the 1394 device 100.

An icon memory 104 is a memory for storing a plurality of icons. An icongeneration unit 105 serves to generate a new icon from still image dataselected by the user or still image data photo-taken by the user.

A camera unit 106 serves to generate the still image data from anoptical image of a photographic subject in accordance with aphoto-taking instruction from the user. A record reproduction unit 107has a function of recording the still image data generated by the cameraunit 106 into removable media 108 and a function of reproducing stillimage data corresponding to a thumbnail image selected by the user fromthe removable media 108. The removable media 108 may be such types as amemory card or a photo-magnetic disk.

A display unit 109 has a function of displaying the still image datagenerated in the camera unit 106 and a function of displaying thethumbnail image or the still image data reproduced from the removablemedia 108.

A control unit 110 has a microcomputer and a memory. A control programfor controlling various functions of the 1394 device 100 is stored inthe memory of the control unit 110. A control program for controllingprocessing procedures shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 is also stored in thememory of the control unit 110.

An operation unit 111 serves to inform the control unit 110 of theuser's instruction. In the operation unit 111, an operation regardingphoto-taking, an operation regarding reproduction, an operation forchanging the icon representing the 1394 device 100 and held by the 1394device 100 and the like can be performed. Further, in the operation unit111, an operation for turning ON or OFF an icon changing mode A, an iconchanging mode B or an icon changing mode C can also be performed.

Next, a processing procedure of icon changing processing which can beexecuted by the 1394 device 100 will be explained with reference to FIG.2. Icon changing processing A is processing for changing the iconrepresenting the 1394 device 100 and held by the 1394 device 100 to anicon selected from a plurality of icons in the icon memory 104.Incidentally, the icon changing processing A shown in FIG. 2 isprocessing executed when the icon changing mode A is turned ON.

Step S201: The control unit 110 reads out N (N is integral number equalto or greater than 1) icons stored in the icon memory 104 and indicatesthe read-out N icons on the display unit 109 by list.

Step S202: The control unit 110 inquires of the user whether or not theicon X in the memory space 1034 may be changed to an icon A as the iconselected by the user. If icon X is to be changed to icon A, the controlunit 110 goes to step S203. On the other hand, if icon X is not to bechanged to icon A, the control unit 110 is returned to step S201.

Step S203: The control unit 110 reads out icon A from the icon memory104 and changes icon X in the unit space 1034 to an icon C. By suchchanging, the icon representing the 1394 device 100 becomes icon A, and,as shown in FIG. 5, icon A is displayed on the controller 120 forremotely controlling the 1394 device 100.

By the processing procedure shown in FIG. 2, since the 1394 device 100can change the icon representing the 1394 device 100 to the iconselected by the user, visual distinction of the 1394 device 100 can befacilitated. As a result, the inconvenient difficulty in understandingthe correspondence relationship between the icon and the 1394 device,can be mitigated or eliminated.

Next, a processing procedure of icon changing processing B which can beexecuted by the 1394 device 100 will be explained with reference to FIG.3. Icon changing processing B is processing for changing the iconrepresenting the 1394 device 100 and held by the 1394 device 100 to anew icon generated from still image data selected by the user.Incidentally, the icon changing processing B shown in FIG. 3 isprocessing executed when the icon changing mode B is turned ON.

Step S301: The record reproduction unit 107 reads out N (N is an integerequal to or greater than 1) thumbnail images of the still image datafrom the removable media 105. The control unit 110 indicates the Nthumbnail images read out by the record reproduction unit 107 on thedisplay unit 109 by list. The user manipulates the operation unit 111 toselect a thumbnail image corresponding to desired still image data.

Step S302: The record reproduction unit 107 reads out still image datacorresponding to the thumbnail image selected by the user from theremovable media 105 and supplies the read-out still image data to theicon generation unit 105.

The icon generation unit 105 generates an icon B as a new icon from thestill image data.

Step S303: The control unit 110 inquires of the user whether or not iconX in the memory space 1034 is to be changed to icon B. If icon X is tobe changed to the icon B, the control unit 110 goes to step S304. On theother hand, if icon X is not being changed to icon B, the control unit110 is returned to step S301.

Step S304: The control unit 110 changes the icon X in the memory space1034 to icon B. As a result, the icon representing the 1394 device 100becomes icon B, and, as shown in FIG. 6, icon B is displayed on thecontroller 120 for remotely controlling the 1394 device 100.

Step S305: The control unit 110 registers icon B generated by the icongeneration unit 105 in the icon memory 104.

By the processing procedure shown in FIG. 3, since the 1394 device 100can generate the new icon B from the still image data selected by theuser and register the generated icon B in the icon memory 104, thenumber of distinguishable icons representing the 1394 device 100 caneasily be increased. Further, at the same time when icon B is registeredin the icon memory 104, the icon in the unit space 1034 can be changedto icon B.

Next, a processing procedure of icon changing processing C which can beexecuted by the 1394 device 100 will be explained with reference to FIG.4. Icon changing processing C is processing for changing the iconrepresenting the 1394 device 100 and held by the 1394 device 100 to anew icon generated from still image data photo-taken by the user.Incidentally, the icon changing processing C shown in FIG. 4 isprocessing to be executed when the icon changing mode C is turned ON.

Step S401: The user manipulates the operation unit 111 to photo-take adesired photographic subject. The camera unit 106 generates still imagedata of the photographic subject photo-taken by the user and suppliesthe generated still image data to the icon generation unit 105. The icongeneration unit 105 generates an icon C as a new icon from the stillimage data generated in the camera unit 106.

Step S402: The control unit 110 inquires of the user whether or not theicon X in the memory space 1034 is to be changed to icon C. If icon X isto be changed to icon C, the control unit 110 goes to step S403. On theother hand, if icon X is not changed to icon C, the control unit 110 isreturned to step S401.

Step S403: The control unit 110 changes the icon X in the memory space1034 to icon C. By such changing, the icon representing the 1394 device100 becomes icon C, and, as shown in FIG. 7, icon C is displayed on thecontroller 120 for remotely controlling the 1394 device 100.

Step S404: The control unit 110 registers the icon C generated by theicon generation unit 105 in the icon memory 104.

By the processing procedure shown in FIG. 4, since the 1394 device 100can generate the new icon C from the still image data photo-taken by theuser and register the generated icon C in the icon memory 104, thenumber of distinguishable icons representing the 1394 device 100 caneasily be increased.

Further, at the same time when icon C is registered in the icon memory104, the icon in the unit space 1034 can be changed to icon C.

As mentioned above, according to the 1394 device 100 of the illustratedembodiment, since the icon representing the 1394 device 100 can bechanged to an icon selected by the user, visual distinction of the 1394device 100 in a display of icons can be facilitated, thus avoiding thedifficulty and inconvenience of being unable to recognize thecorrespondence relationship between the icon and the 1394 device.

Further, according to the 1394 device 100 of the illustrated embodiment,since the new icon B can be generated from the still image data selectedby the user and the generated icon B can be registered in the iconmemory 104, the number of types of distinguishable icons representingthe 1394 device 100 can easily be increased. Further, at the same timewhen icon B is registered in the icon memory 104, the icon in the unitspace 1034 can be changed to icon B.

Further, according to the 1394 device 100 of the illustrated embodiment,since the new icon C can be generated from the still image dataphoto-taken by the user and the generated icon C can be registered inthe icon memory 104, the number of kinds of icons representing the 1394device 100 can easily be increased. Further, at the same time when iconC is registered in the icon memory 104, the icon in the unit space 1034can be changed to icon C.

The above-described preferred embodiments are merely exemplary of thepresent invention, and are not to be construed to limit the scope of thepresent invention.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the scope of theappended claims, and is not limited to the specific descriptions in thisspecification. Furthermore, all modifications and changes belonging toequivalents of the claims are considered to fall within the scope of thepresent invention.

1. An image capture device comprising: a first memory which stores aplurality of icons; a second memory which stores an icon representingthe image capture device of which said second memory is a part, the iconbeing read by an external electronic device through an address space,and the address space being accessed by the external electronic devicethough a serial bus; and an icon changing unit which changes the iconstored in said second memory to a selected icon that is selected fromthe plurality of icons stored in said first memory.
 2. An image capturedevice according to claim 1, wherein the address space is a registerspace conforming with ISO/IEC 13213:1994.
 3. A method for controlling animage capture device, said the method comprising the steps of: selectingan icon from a plurality of icons stored in a first memory; and changingan icon stored in a second memory to the selected icon, the icon storedin the second memory representing the image capture device and beingread by an external electronic device through an address space, and theaddress space being accessed by the external electronic device though aserial bus.
 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the address spaceis a register space conforming with ISO/IEC 13213:1994.
 5. An imagecapture device comprising: a memory which stores an icon representingthe image capture device of which said memory is a part, the icon beingread by an external electronic device through an address space, and theaddress space being accessed by the external electronic device through aserial bus; an icon generating unit which generates a new icon fromstill image data selected by a user; and an icon changing unit whichchanges the icon stored in said memory to the new icon.
 6. An imagecapture device according to claim 5, wherein the address space is aregister space conforming with ISO/IEC 13213:1994.
 7. A method forcontrolling an image capture device, said method comprising the stepsof: generating a new icon from still image data selected by a user; andchanging an icon stored in a memory to the new icon, the icon stored inthe memory representing the image capture device and being read by anexternal electronic device through an address space, and the addressspace being accessed by the external electronic device through a serialbus.
 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the address space is aregister space conforming with ISO/IEC 13213:1994.
 9. An image capturedevice comprising: a memory which stores an icon representing the imagecapture device of which said memory is a part, the icon being read by anexternal electronic device through an address space, and the addressspace being accessed by the external electronic device through a serialbus; an icon generating unit which generates a new icon from still imagedata captured by the image capture device; and an icon changing unitwhich changes the icon stored in said memory to the new icon.
 10. Animage capture device according to claim 9, wherein the address space isa register space conforming with ISO/IEC 13213:1994.
 11. A method forcontrolling an image capture device, said method comprising the stepsof: generating a new icon from still image data captured by the imagecapture device; and changing an icon stored in a memory to the new icon,the icon stored in the memory representing the image capture device andbeing read by an external electronic device through an address space,and the address space being accessed by the external electronic devicethought a serial bus.
 12. A method according to claim 11, wherein theaddress space is a register space conforming with ISO/IEC 13213:1994.13. An image capture device according to claim 1, wherein the imagecapture device is one of a digital video camera and a digital camera.14. A method according to claim 3, wherein the image capture device isone of a digital video camera and a digital camera.
 15. An image capturedevice according to claim 5, wherein the image capture device is one ofa digital video camera and a digital camera.
 16. A method according toclaim 7, wherein the image capture device is one of a digital videocamera and a digital camera.
 17. An image capture device according toclaim 9, wherein the image capture device is one of a digital videocamera and a digital camera.
 18. A method according to claim 11, whereinthe image capture device is one of a digital video camera and a digitalcamera.